


A Mark on My Soul

by MissMorphine



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: #sylvixweek2019, Child Abuse, Homophobia, M/M, Margrave Gautier's A+ Parenting, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Sylvix Week (Fire Emblem), Sylvix Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 17:29:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21040013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMorphine/pseuds/MissMorphine
Summary: “A male soul mate is worse not having one at all!” roared the margrave. “How do you expect to have children and pass on your Crest with a male soulmate?”When Sylvain's soul mark appears, he couldn't be happier to have a soulmate. His father, however, disagrees.Sylvix Week, Day 2: coffee shop au |soulmates| dreams





	A Mark on My Soul

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost, there is a scene in the beginning of Margrave Gautier hitting Sylvain as a child. Margrave Gautier being an abusive parent is a rather integral part of the story, so please note that there is a trigger warning for child abuse.
> 
> The basis of the soulmate identifying marks in this universe is that only those with Crests are able to have soul marks, which makes Crests even more valuable. Additionally, only soulmates who both have Crests are able to bear a soul mark. The idea isn't quite as fleshed out as I would want it to be if I wanted to create anything else in the same universe, to be honest, so this is probably the only story that will be in this particular soulmate au.

Sylvain was twelve years old when his soul mark manifested. The searing burn on his shoulder told him that he was one of the lucky ones to have a soul mate that was also Crested. All his life, Sylvain’s parents told him about the importance of Crests and soulmates. 

_“The goddess only gifts those with Crests a soulmate,” Margrave Gérard Gautier had said to his young son. “You will be twice blessed by the goddess if your soulmate also has a Crest, for only then you will be certain of who your soulmate is or if you have one at all. Those without Crests will never bear a soul mark.”_

The memory of his father’s words no longer terrified Sylvain. He had a soulmate. The pain in his shoulder was proof of that.

Sylvain ran through the manor halls to find his parents. His heart was racing with excitement as he burst into the drawing room and announced that he had a soul mark.

The Margravine, Lady Adeline, clapped her hands in delight, no doubt already planning a party to announce the soul mark. Even Margrave Gautier, a stoic man on the best of days, looked pleased. Sylvain tugged off his shirt and folded it over the chair. He couldn’t see the mark on himself, but he could feel his parents’ eyes boring into his skin.

“What Crest is it?” asked Sylvain. He tried to crane his neck and shift his shoulder to see, but it was just out of view. The redhead looked up at his parents, who were now staring at each other instead of at his soul mark. “Father?” They had matching looks of concern on their faces. “Mother?” A note of panic entered Sylvain’s voice as his parents remained silent.

“Are…are there any female Fraldarius children with Crests?” asked Adeline, her voice shaking. Sylvain’s heart stopped in his chest. Crest Fraldarius? He tried again to look at his shoulder, straining his neck to try and catch a glimpse of the Crest marking his skin. He could just barely see three pointed lines at the top of the mark.

“No,” Gérard growled. Sylvain’s attention turned from his shoulder to his father, whose eyes were filled with disapproval. “The only Fraldarius children with Crests are male. The older one is already marked with the Crest of Daphnel, to that Galatea girl. The younger one--”

“Felix!” Sylvain clapped his hands over his mouth as he realized that he had interrupted his father. The barely contained fury in the margrave’s eyes had Sylvain fighting the urge to flee.

“A male soul mate is worse not having one at all!” roared the margrave. “How do you expect to have children and pass on your Crest with a male soulmate?” Sylvain’s eyes widened as he saw his father’s hand coming down to strike him. The impact of his father’s palm onto his cheek forced Sylvain onto the ground. The margravine screamed, but Sylvain could barely hear it over the ringing in his ears.

Margrave Gautier grabbed the shirt Sylvain had so carefully folded over the chair and threw it onto the ground. He sneered at his son, who was still curled into a ball to protect himself. Sylvain turned pleading eyes onto his mother, who gave him a sorrowful look before turning her eyes away from him.

“You will never speak of this,” hissed Gérard. He leaned down to grab his son and roughly pulled him to his feet. “As far as I and the rest of the world are concerned, you do not have a soulmate. You will not embarrass this family.” The margrave’s hand was raised yet again as he asked if Sylvain understood what he was asking. Sylvain’s eyes were trained on his father’s fist as he nodded.

“I do not have a soulmate,” repeated Sylvain. His father’s eyes were still cold as he lowered his hand and gestured for his wife to join him. The margravine was still avoiding her son’s eyes as she brushed past him. Sylvain wasn’t sure whose reaction was worse.

“Sylvain…” The margrave paused at the door. “The goddess has chosen to punish you, but I will not allow your sins to destroy our family name. When the time comes, our family will arrange a suitable marriage for you.” The door shut behind the margrave, and Sylvain collapsed onto the floor once again. He clutched his shirt to his chest and allowed the tears to drip onto the fabric as he mourned for a soulmate he would never be allowed to be with.

* * *

Despite his displeasure about Sylvain’s soulmate, Margrave Gautier still allowed his son to remain friends with the younger Fraldarius boy. Sylvain was certain that his father only allowed his friendship with Felix to continue so that they could keep up appearances that all was well within the nobility of Faerghus. It was only when Sylvain and Ingrid visited Fraldarius territory together that Sylvain felt the aching emptiness in his chest.

“Glenn promised to train with me later,” Ingrid announced proudly. Felix snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Big deal,” scoffed Felix, “Glenn trains with me every day.”

“Yes, but I’m his soulmate…” Ingrid pulled up her sleeve to reveal the Crest of Fraldarius emblazoned just above her elbow. Sylvain held back a wince as he stared at the Crest that matched the one marring his shoulder. He could still feel the weight of his father’s disappointed gaze and the imprint of his father’s palm on his face.

“What about you, Sylvain?” Sylvain blinked a few times as he pulled himself back to the moment. Ingrid and Felix were looking at him expectantly. “Have you gotten a soul mark yet?” Ice flooded Sylvain’s veins. His father’s warnings of disinheritance echoed in his ears.

“No,” Sylvain said firmly. “I don’t have a soulmate.” He had practiced saying it in the mirror so many times that the lie came naturally. His father would have been proud at how convincing the lie was -- if his father would ever be proud of him. The margrave’s eyes had neither shown an ounce of pride nor affection for his son ever since the day that his soul mark appeared.

Sylvain wanted to avoid looking at Felix as he said the words, but his eyes were locked onto the younger boy. He was watching Felix expectantly -- secretly hoping that Felix would reveal that he had the Crest of Gautier as a soul mark -- but the smaller boy’s face showed nothing. If anything, he looked bored by the conversation.

“I don’t have one either,” said Felix, and Sylvain’s world stopped with the words. He had never heard of someone having a soul mark that wasn’t reciprocated, but soul marks were so rare that no one knew the whole truth of them. Crest scholars weren’t interested in soul marks when the mysteries of Crests themselves were still so unknown.

“Dimitri doesn’t have one either, so I guess it really isn’t common to have one, if only one of us four has one…” mused Ingrid pensively. Sylvain nodded numbly. He knew that his father would be pleased to hear that he wasn’t Felix’s soulmate, but he didn’t want to face that reality yet. He could hardly stand to listen to his parents sort through applicants for an arranged marriage; their efforts would feel like even more of a mockery now that Sylvain was destined to be with someone who wasn’t destined to be with him.

He didn’t need to tell his father. His father’s approval -- if it even came -- wasn’t worth the pain that came with knowing that he was destined to be unloved.

* * *

Soulmates and soul marks were long forgotten when the war came. The sharp pain that had once plagued Sylvain when he thought about Felix and their separate futures had settled into a phantom ache that lingered at the frayed edges of his soul. The war gave Sylvain something else to focus on. Unrequited love didn’t quite hurt so much when he knew that death could meet him on the battlefield any day.

Shouts filled the air as metal clanged against metal. In the unfamiliar territory of Brigid, the chaos grew steadily. It was getting too difficult to find allies amidst the masses of fighting bodies. Sylvain peered out from his vantage point atop his horse to look for Felix.

Sylvain’s heart stopped dead in his chest. Hubert, Edelgard’s most loyal retainer, had a Miasma spell at the ready. As he cast the spell at Felix, Sylvain moved without thinking. He nudged his horse to gallop and threw himself between Felix and the spell. The paladin cried out in agony as the dark magic hit his shoulder. He was barely able to keep himself from falling off his horse as the follow-up spell hit him and his vision began to blur.

“Sylvain!” He knew that voice. That was Felix’s voice calling out to him, grounding him in the moment.

Sylvain looked around at the battlefield and saw that the enemy army had retreated, to his relief. The professor was already rounding up their troops to begin the journey back to Garreg Mach. He slid out from his saddle and hit the ground with shaky legs. His shoulder and back burned with each move that he made; he needed to find Mercedes.

“What were you thinking?” snapped Felix. “Putting yourself in harm’s way like that for me…” Despite his furious tone, Felix was gentle as he guided Sylvain to sit on the ground and began to pull off his armor.

“Felix, I’m fine,” Sylvain replied weakly. “Just let Mercedes handle it.” Sylvain took in a shuddering breath, trying and failing to hide how bad the pain was. Felix continued to pull off Sylvain’s armor, and Sylvain wasn’t strong enough to push him away.

“We’re too far from Mercedes and Manuela for that,” said Felix. “I can cast a simple Heal spell, Sylvain. Just let me heal you enough to get you over to them.” Sylvain wanted to argue, but Felix was already stripping off the redhead’s shirt. It was only a matter of seconds before he saw the soul mark on Sylvain’s shoulder.

Sylvain knew the moment that Felix saw the mark. The swordsman’s hands, always so sure and steady, faltered as the shirt was peeled off Sylvain’s shoulders. Fingertips ghosted at the mark, tracing the lines tentatively.

“You have a soul mark.” It was a statement, not a question.

Sylvain closed his eyes. He had always been so careful to ensure that no one had ever seen the mark. Now all of his efforts had been in vain.

“I do,” said Sylvain, “but you don’t.” The words tasted like ash on his tongue.

Sylvain could only watch in confusion as Felix knelt in front of him. Felix’s hands were shaking as he unbuttoned his own shirt; he pushed away the fabric to reveal the Crest of Gautier emblazoned just below his collarbone. Ignoring the pain, Sylvain reached out to brush his fingers against the mark.

It was real.

“How?” asked Sylvain. “You told me…you told me that you didn’t have one.” He remembered the day clearly.

“You told me the same thing…” muttered Felix. He raised an eyebrow expectantly, clearly waiting for an explanation.

“When my soul mark manifested…” Sylvain trailed off as he thought back to the day that he had shown his parents the mark on his skin. He could still feel the weight of his father’s disapproval, after all these years. “My father forbade me to speak of it. He needed a son that would produce Crest babies, and a son with a male soulmate could never give him that. If anyone had found out, he swore to disinherit me.” Felix’s eyes darkened, but Sylvain knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t the one Felix was angry at.

“Your father sent word that you didn’t have a soul mark and that he was seeking potential brides from the noble families of every region,” began Felix, “and then you told me and Ingrid that you didn’t have a soul mark…I didn’t want you to pity me, so I lied.” Sylvain almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. His father, his damned father, had convinced them both that they didn’t have a soulmate.

For the first time since his soul mark appeared, Sylvain didn’t feel the weight of his father’s expectations. If his father was willing to sacrifice Sylvain’s happiness to further the Gautier lineage, then perhaps he didn’t want his father’s approval after all. As Felix’s hands reached out with the glow of white magic to heal his back, Sylvain realized that he didn’t want anything other than the male in front of him.

With his back healed enough to allow him to move, Sylvain reached out to cup Felix’s face in his hands. He brought their foreheads together and closed his eyes as he promised himself that no one would be able to separate them again.

“You’re my soulmate,” whispered Sylvain, “and I’m yours.”

“I’m your soulmate,” replied Felix, “and you’re mine.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I really did want to have them kiss at the end...but it didn't feel like they were there just yet. It felt right to have them acknowledge that they were each other's soulmates and leave it there. Kissing felt like it would've been too rushed.
> 
> Also, I'm about half an hour late for day 2 of Sylvix week ._.


End file.
